The Equinox War
by JuniorBanks
Summary: Out in the snowy wastelands of the Old World, a ghost brings an old soul back from the dead. This new warrior rises to join the legion of light in its fight against the encroaching darkness. As the war reaches a fevered pitch, legends will be born.


The abyss around him had a weightless to it. It was like falling into freezing water and losing all feeling. Slowly sinking and going numb. All that existed was the unending blackness. He could not remember how long he had been in the abyss. Focusing on anything at all was difficult; the creeping numbness had reached his mind long ago. The only things left were vague recollections of a life long forgotten. The fuzzy outlines of faces and places, like blurred photographs.

Suddenly, a light appeared in the darkness. It was weak but stood in stark contrast to the usual black. The light grew and brightened until it radiated like his own personal sun. He could feel himself moving toward it as though surfacing from the deepest part of the ocean. It scalded his eyes and turned his entire world white.

"Found you," a voice rang out.

He started speeding to the source of the light at a breakneck speed. The pressure of it threatened to crush him. Just as he was reaching his limit, the pressure disappeared and the light with it.

He woke up with a gasp, struggling to take in as much air as possible. His eyes burned as he used them for the first time since his long-forgotten life. His mind was clear for once. He could feel the aching in his legs, the grass under his fingers, and the wind on his face.

"You've been asleep for a long time," a synthetic voice remarked next to him.

He finally noticed the little ball floating in the air next to him. Its metal shell was a brilliant white and a single blue eye lit of the center of the sphere underneath.

"What are you? Where am I?" he croaked out, still weak after his awakening. The cold air stung as he breathed it in.

"I am your ghost," it replied, "I have been searching for you for years. It is rare to find a soul so old, Guardian."

Its shell broke apart and twirled around it as it circled its new master, inspecting him.

"You are my chosen champion. A warrior of light to fight back the darkness."

The guardian massaged his temple, fighting back a pounding headache.

"I don't understand what any of that means," he complained, "Light? Darkness? What are you even saying?"

The ghost bobbed as though nodding its head.

"I realize that this might be too much to take in all at once. There are those in the tower that can explain the situation far better than I. For now, let's focus on getting you up and ready to move."

It hovered over to a spot in the grass where a set of clothes and armor lay neatly folded.

"I took the liberty of fabricating these for you while you woke," it remarked, "They are nothing compared to what vendors in the city have to offer, but they will suffice for now."

Realizing for the first time that he was naked, the guardian stumbled on unsteady legs to get himself dressed. The armor was plain, but functional. A simple breastplate, vambraces, a single knee pad and a helmet.

As he was tightening his belt, the ghost flew in front of him.

"I almost forgot, what is your name, guardian?" it asked.

The guardian frowned and struggled to think.

"I...I don't know," he said, "I can't remember much. It's all just a blur."

The ghost let out a worried hum.

"I suppose that makes sense given how long your soul has been here," it pondered, "I have never heard of a guardian as old as you being resurrected. It's possible that you were alive even before the Golden Age! I'm sure there is someone at the tower that will be able to help."

It circled him once more, happily.

"Rare indeed."

The guardian could almost hear the smile that would have been on the ghost's face were it human.

"I'll take your word for it," he said as he finished tightening his armor.

The ghost gave a satisfied beep and flew in front of its guardian once more.

"There is one more thing you will need," it remarked.

It looked to the ground and a rifle started to materialize in the grass, coming to existence in a shower of blue sparks.

"It is dangerous to go alone," it said, "take this. The world is not as safe as it was when you were alive."

"The world has never been safe," he replied without thinking and reached down to pick up the gun.

The ghost gave a quizzical twirl of its shell and looked at his guardian once more.

"I suppose so," it agreed, "but this area is fallen territory. We must be vigilant."

It turned and began to float lazily down the decrepit road, rusted cars dotting the crumbling asphalt.

"Our first objective is to find you transportation. There should be a jumpship we can repair at the cosmodrome. It was a port during the Golden Age. After this, we can take you to the tower where everything will be explained."

The guardian slung the new rifle on his back and started off with his ghost toward the gigantic wall in the distance. A million questions floating around in his head.

* * *

The guardian and ghost weaved their way through the jam of cars that had blocked the road on the way to the wall.

"I forgot to ask, what is your name supposed to be?" he questioned.

The ghost looked over at him as it flew, changing course slightly to avoid the rusted carcass of a sedan.

"My designation is Byte," it chimed happily, the blue diamond that made up its eye blinking.

"Alright Byte, what exactly is this tower that we are heading towards."

The ghost flew to its guardian's shoulder once more.

"The tower is the headquarters of the Guardians. It is the final line of defense for the Last City," it replied.

"The Last City?"

The Ghost nodded, "Even with the light of the Traveler, our enemies have pushed us to the brink of extinction. All that remains is the Last City. Very few live outside its walls."

The guardian walked in silence for a minute as the magnitude of that sank in. The rest of the world in shambles? Even if he could hardly remember what it was like in the past, the sheer destruction that entailed was not lost on him.

"What did you mean when you said 'the light of the Traveler'?" he asked

"The Traveler is the reason you are alive now," Byte remarked, "It granted us the power of Light, allowing us to soar to greater heights than was ever thought possible. It is also the most effective weapon we have against the forces of darkness. You will learn to control this power for yourself soon enough."

He had noticed earlier that although he had been exhausted and weak when he first awoke, it quickly passed. It must have been the Light that was restoring his emaciated body.

The guardian made his way around a particularly grizzly wreck. A car had been hit from the side and flipped over, crushing the cabin and its occupants. The bones of an arm were still sticking out from under the crumpled window where a passenger had tried to escape.

"And what are these 'forces of darkness' you keep going on about?" he asked, turning away from the sight.

"Our enemies," the ghost replied, "They serve the Darkness that wishes to snuff out the light of the Traveler. They have hunted the Light throughout the universe and eventually reached our planet."

"How do I fit into all this then? Why am I here?"

"All questions will be answered in time, but for now I just need you to trust me. We're here," Blow chimed.

The guardian was broken out of his thoughts by the giant wall that the road led to. It was rusted and tattered in many places, but still stood as a bulwark between him to the cosmodrome beyond.

"Ready your weapon, Guardian," Byte warned, "The Fallen will likely be waiting inside."

He unslung his rifle and gripped it nervously.

"How are you so sure?"

"They fester in dark hovels such as these," it said with disgust.

The dark archway into the wall loomed ahead of them. In the fading afternoon light, it seemed almost like a portal to another world. The ghost turned on its light and positioned itself above its warrior's shoulder.

"Keep a sharp eye out for the glow of their helmets. That may be the only warning we get before they attack."

They made their way into the innards of the wall cautiously. Only a few steps in, they ran into a mass of crumpled metal that blocked the road.

"We will have to get through some other way," it grumbled.

It emitted a quick pulse, scanning the room before turning its light toward a battered door on the side of the tunnel.

"Through there. This should lead deeper into the wall."

The guardian moved to grab the handle and was suddenly much more grateful for the gloves his ghost had made. The metal had begun to flake off into brownish-red spikes that were sure to cut him otherwise.

He tugged on the handle and the door refused to budge. Frustrated, he tightened his grip and yanked on it as hard as he could. The handle broke off and left him on the ground with an unimpressed ghost looking down on him.

"You're more then welcome to help," he complained, dusting off his pants as he got up.

"I prefer to leave the more physical aspects of our partnership to you," Byte remarked.

The guardian grunted and walked up to the door again.

"Stand back," he warned.

He took a single step back before throwing a kick into the door, sending it off its hinges and into the space beyond.

The entrance emptied out to a dark large hallway that stretched further than they could see. The guts of the giant wall were on full display. Pipes and girders of all sizes lined the walls, leaving a bevy of crawlspaces on either side of the pair. The sound of the guardian's boots on the metal walkway echoed throughout the space despite his best efforts.

The hallway seemed to stretch on forever. Even with his ghost's powerful light, they could see no end to it. There was nothing but an endless wall of rusted metal stretching into oblivion.

"Are you sure this is going to get us to the other side of the wall?" the guardian asked.

"No," his ghost admitted, "but it is the only path available to us."

The sound of a pipe clanging on the floor far behind them ground them to a halt. He snapped his rifle in the direction it had come from, the flashlight mounted on its side doing a much poorer job than his ghost at lighting the way. He could suddenly feel the pounding of his own heart.

It took a moment for them to start walking again. Every gap in the pipes was now suspect to them. As they walked, a soft and steady tapping from up ahead drew their attention.

"You hear that, right?" the guardian whispered.

His ghost responded with a slight bob of its shell.

The tapping grew louder until they seemed to be right next to it. A series of thin, rusted pipes against the wall. The guardian leaned forward, trying to locate the origin. A weak blue light floated in the darkness behind the mass of metal. His confusion turned to dread almost immediately as he remembered his ghost's advice.

The creature let out a terrifying shriek as it smashed through the pipes. The guardian was knocked onto his back and it lunged on top of him, knife raised for the kill. As it brought it down toward his neck, he caught the thing's wrist.

"Guardian!" Byte shouted as they struggled.

With one hand, he grabbed desperately for the rifle that was pinned between their bodies. He finally found the handle and accidentally pulled the trigger, sending a round into the wall before it ricocheted off into the utter blackness of the hallway. His adversary let off an angry growl as it renewed its efforts. It struggled onto its knees and leaned its weight into the knife.

Free from the weight that had been holding it down, the guardian turned the barrel of the gun toward his attacker and fired. The area around them was lit up from the flash of the muzzle and the alien thrown off with a new hole in its abdomen. The guardian scrambled to his feet and slammed his foot into the thing's chest before it could get up. He pointed the barrel at its head and pulled the trigger. It died with a final screech and some sort of white gas spewing from the cavity where its head had once been.

He stepped off the corpse, breathing heavily. He had just brushed far closer to death than he was comfortable with

"More dregs coming. Eyes front, Guardian!"

Two more of the things were sprinting at them from further down the hall where his first bullet had flown. He raised his rifle and sprayed into the combatants, stopping them short. They fell with heavy clanks onto the metal walkway.

More screeches echoed from the way they had just come.

"We need to move!" the guardian yelled.

They sprinted down the corridor, eventually coming to a small room with multiple exits. Byte let off a quick scan before turning toward the pathway on the left.

"That way," his ghost directed, "This should take us towards the other end of the wall."

He sprinted down the hallway, the sounds of the screeching not far behind.

"How much further is this going to be?" he gasped.

"We are nearing the other side. Just keep pushing," it urged.

The hallway soon opened up into a vast cavern, a catwalk hovering over a bottomless drop. They had reached the heart of the wall. Countless identical catwalks ran parallel to their own, connecting the two sides of the wall. The walkway creaked alarmingly as they made their way across.

More screeching began to echo throughout the atrium. The guardian looked back and his stomach dropped. Crawling down the side of the wall they had come from were dozens of fallen. All swarming toward the catwalk he was on.

"Not good!" he yelled and broke into a full sprint toward the other end.

He had barely made it halfway across when the first dreg jumped off the wall and onto the catwalk. It wasted no time in rushing towards him. More monstrosities quickly followed, piling onto the cramped walkway.

The supports groaned in defiance. The withered metal could not hold this many. The guardian leapt for solid ground and rolled over on his back, bringing his rifle to bear. He fired into the dreg in front and it hit the ground. The rest trampled its body without pausing. He held down the trigger and screamed back at them. However, the wall of flesh and metal kept charging forward and would be on him in seconds.

A sharp snap of the bolt signaled that the magazine was empty, and the guardian was gripped with pure terror. Those things were going to rip him apart, limb from limb.

Just as the first one was nearing the end of the catwalk, the supports finally gave way. The brittle metal that had been holding it up snapped under the strain that the mass of bodies was putting on it. With a tremendous crash, the walkway broke apart and was sent freefalling into the darkness below. The cries of the dreg horde echoed as they tumbled into oblivion.

The guardian stayed on the ground for a minute, trembling. His lungs were burning from the sprint and his body ached.

Byte flew down to his head and gave a quick twirl of its shell.

"There are likely more on their way. I know it is a lot to ask, but we need to keep moving," it said.

He nodded his acceptance and rolled on to his stomach before lifting himself up. He picked up is rifle and loaded it with a fresh magazine. The sound of the slide snapping as he racked the bolt reverberated off the walls.

The rest of the walk was silent. After only a few more turns, they arrived at another rusted door. Thankfully, this one swung open freely when the guardian gave a slight push. Fresh air washed over them and he took a deep breath in relief. A nearly full moon hung high in the sky, painting everything in a pale light.

"I thought we were never going to leave that place alive," he admitted.

Byte hummed in agreement, "I think we have both had our fill of action and terror for one lifetime. Let's try to avoid any more until we reach the tower."

The guardian turned toward the road and the cosmodrome beyond. He could make out the faint outlines of old colony ships left to rust.

"Almost there," he sighed.

He frowned as something glinted off in the distance. Squinting his eyes to get a better look, he barely had time to react before the vandal's bullet punched into his helmet and through his skull, killing him instantly.

**A/N:**  
**Haven't updated my stories in a while, been busy with my degree. Sorry about that. Good news is that you can probably expect something on that front too. As for this story, I've loved the Destiny world since the first one came out years back. Started playing the second one a few days ago and I couldn't resist diving deeper into the world and making a story of my own. First chapter is a bit short to test the waters. If people seem to be interested, I'll continue it.**

**~Junior**


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